THE SOCIO–POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN ARISTOPHANES’ ‘WOMEN PLAYS’ BY MERCY OWUSU-ASIAMAH (10329205) JUNE 2012 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii THE SOCIO–POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN ARISTOPHANES’ ‘WOMEN PLAYS’ BY MERCY OWUSU-ASIAMAH (10329205) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL CLASSICS DEGREE JUNE 2012 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii DECLARATIONS I declare that this thesis The Socio–Political Implications of the Portrayal of Women in Aristophanes’ ‘Women Plays’ is my own originality, ideas, thoughts and that acknowledgment has been given to all references and quotations. I submit that this thesis has not been presented to any Institution or examining board nor credited to anyone for an award of a degree. ……………………………………… DATE…………………………... MERCY OWUSU-ASIAMAH (CANDIDATE) …………………………………… PROF. (MRS) FOLAKE ONAYEMI DATE…………………………... (PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR) …………………………………… DATE…………………………... PROF. EMMANUEL KOFI ACKAH (CO–SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ABSTRACT Literary records representing women in the ancient Athenian society are heavily dependant on the writings of men and that has influenced the portrayal of women. However, the ancient Athenian society has some outstanding similarities and differences in areas such as: the performance of rituals, family life and shared values in the society. The positions of women in the Athenian society are characterized by male domination. From childhood the girl comes under the authority of her father and upon marriage that of her husband. Throughout a woman’s life she remains under the subordination of a man and she is expected to work without complaint. The objective of this work is: to collect passages from Aristophanes’ three ‘women plays’ namely Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae because these plays are deemed to represent Aristophanes’ detailed portrayal of Athenian women. The depiction of women in the plays reflects the general view of women during the fourth and fifth centuries BC. Then there would be analyses of the implications that arose from their portrayal such as their roles as wives, mothers and intruding into the public sphere of men (assembly) that comes to the fore in the plays. It is pertinent to remember that the representation of women on stage is the representation of a male’s interpretation of women, since men played all parts in the play. I conclude that Aristophanes’ portrayal of Athenian women should be accepted with some caution since not all of his portrayal can be said to have truly represented women. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v DEDICATION I humbly dedicate this work to my parents Mr. and Mrs. Owusu-Asiamah whose care and support have sustained me up to this day. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi ACKNOWLEDGMENT In course of writing this thesis, I have been supported by many people. I cannot mention all these helpful people without whom this thesis would not have been possible. However, names of some persons need mentioning. My thanks goes to Prof. (Mrs.) Folake Onayemi, my principal supervisor, whose worthwhile comments, suggestions and guidelines have added much value to this thesis. I am deeply grateful to Prof. Emmanuel Kofi Ackah my co–supervisor for his relentless assistance and encouragements during the course of writing this thesis. I want to express my thanks and gratitude to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Owusu-Asiamah and my siblings, William and Emma, who have contributed in diverse ways to make this thesis possible. My sincere thanks to my favourite uncle Mr. Isaac Darko, his wife Mrs. Theodora Okaikor Darko and their daughter Matilda for their financial and emotional support. I also want to express my profound appreciation to Mrs. Jemima Ayikai Darko my dearest aunty for her love and care. My deep gratitude to the Onayemi and Akinwole families of Ibadan, Nigeria for their warm hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Adoboe-Mensah deserve a special acknowledgment for their emotional support which helped me through many difficult moments. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii Finally, I would also like to render my sincere appreciation to staff and students of the Department of Classics, University of Ghana and University of Ibadan. I am grateful to all the above mentioned and anyone who contributed directly or indirectly towards the successful completion of this thesis. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS DECLARATIONS ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENT.................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. viii FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................. 1 1.0 Background of the Study…………………………………………………………...1 1.1 Statement of Problem……………………………………………………………….4 1.2 Significance of Study……………………………………………………………… 5 1.3 Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………… 5 1.4 Limitations and Delimitations………………………………………………………5 1.5 Scope of Study……………………………………………………………………...5 1.6 Research Methodology...…………………………………………………………...6 1.7Oraganization of Study……………………………………………………………...7 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 8 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Origin and evolution of comedy ............................................................................... 8 2.2 Life and works of Aristophanes .............................................................................. 11 2.3 Women in ancient Greece ..................................................................................... 133 2.4 Aristophanes’ representation of women ............................................................... 166 2.5 Theoretical framework .......................................................................................... 188 CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................... 23 LYSISTRATA ............................................................................................................... 233 3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 233 3.1 Synopsis of the play .............................................................................................. 255 3.2 Social implications ................................................................................................ 276 3.2.1 Sexual Obsession ........................................................................................... 276 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix 3.2.2 Gender Roles .................................................................................................. 311 3.2.3 Religious Roles .............................................................................................. 333 3.3 Political implications .............................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................. 42 THESMOPHORIAZUSAE ............................................................................................ 44 4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 44 4.1 Synopsis of the play ................................................................................................ 46 4.2 Social implications .................................................................................................. 49 4.2.1 Gender disguise and role reversals .................................................................. 50 4.2.2 Cultural roles of women in the Thesmophoria……………………………… 53 4.2.3 Portrayal of women’s vices…………………………………………………. 56 4.3 Political implication ................................................................................................ 59 4.3.1 Parallels of the Athenian Assembly and the structure of the Thesmophoria. .. 59 CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................ 645 ECCLESIASUZAE .......................................................................................................... 655 5.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 655 5.1 Synopsis of the play .............................................................................................. 677 5.2 Social implications ................................................................................................ 699 5.2.1 Sharing of common properties (Material and Sexual Relation) .................... 699 5.2.2 Reversal of roles ............................................................................................ 733 5.3 Political implications of women’s portrayal ......................................................... 777 5.3.1 Brief political background ............................................................................. 777 5.3.2 Political gender–role playing ......................................................................... 799 CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................... 888 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 888 6.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 888 6.1 Lysistrata............................................................................................................... 899 6.2 Thesmophoriazusae................................................................................................. 90 6.3 Ecclesiazusae ........................................................................................................ 911 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 944 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 99 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS .................................................................................. 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x FIGURES Figure 1: Utopian Constitution in Aristophanes’AssemblyWomen and Platon, Politeia5…1011 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background of the Study In recent years a variety of distinctive literary works examining the role and status of women in the field of literature has become abundant; however, questions still arise about how women were represented in literature, especially in ancient Greek literature. This thesis takes a look at how ancient Greek women, especially in the Athenian society, were portrayed socially, that is, in terms of their roles in the oikos, which encompass domestic and cultural duties. Stewardess of the house, caring for husband and children, spinning and weaving, performance of religious rituals such as Thesmophoria, Skira and also participating in the Eleusinian Mysteries. There were no political roles attributed to women in the ancient Greek society, but there were a few exceptions of women who held political positions in the Greek society; one of such was Phrygia, a government official in her city–state of Sparta. (Plutarch Moralia III 257e). Aristophanes’ three ‘women plays’ namely, Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae and the Ecclesiazusae (Assemblywomen) represent character portrayal of women in the Athenian society during the fourth and fifth centuries BC. Then there would be analyses of the implications that arose from their portrayal such as their roles as wives, mothers and intruding into the public sphere of men (assembly) that comes to the fore in the plays. The Classical world and literature in particular have portrayed womenfolk in various lights: authoritative, dominating and subservient. Herodotus, Polybius, Livy and Tacitus are some early Classical historians who have written about women. Women have also been the subject matter of the writings of comedians such as Aristophanes and Terence and a few satirists like Semonides, Juvenal and Horace. However, it was not until very recently that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 there was an awakening directed towards the study of women in Classical scholarship and many Classical scholars have done a re–assessment of the biases and the prejudices against women in Classical literature. Some of these scholars include: J. Peradotto, J. Sullivan, Mary R. Lefkowitz, Sarah Pomeroy, Amy Richlin, Eva Canterella, and Lesly Dean-Jones. Thus, ‘Women in Classical Antiquity’ has now become a fully established area of specialization in Classical scholarship. It dates from the spring of 1973 when the journal Arethusa under the editorship of John Peradotto and J. Sullivan put out the first special issue of a learned periodical expressly dedicated to that area of study. In the light of this, other special journals, books and essays soon emerged. Four decades later, the anthology of expert studies remains the most widely utilized vehicle for advancing the parameters of research on the subject, and study of women in Classical antiquity has grown from a subfield of Classical scholarship into a legitimate and dignified subject of inquiry based on its own merits. The 20 th century has witnessed an ever emerging trend in literary and gender studies that led many critics to take different interest in explaining character portrayal of women in various literary works. These interests subsequently paved the way for conceptualizing of theories to explain the implications of an actor’s role. Hence, I have selected the three ‘women plays’ of Aristophanes as basis for assessing women’s role because the plays provide a concrete contextual interpretation of women’s portrayal in comedy during the fourth and fifth centuries BC and also the plays were deemed to represent Athenian women during the period under consideration. Many writers over the years have treated issues related to women in Classical drama under the guise that women in Greek drama are exceptions to the rules of what the Athenian society expected of female behaviours. For instance, in Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae, the plays center on female political revolt, whereas women in tragedy have been better represented as in the case of Medea who steps out of the standard social roles to become a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 tragic heroine. Euripides composed a speech in which Medea passionately presented the wrongs done to women. (Me.214–220) Medea: Women of Corinth, I would not have you censure me. So I have come. Many, I know, are proud at heart, indoors or out; but others are ill spoken of as supercilious, just because their ways are quiet. There is no justice in the world’s censorious eyes. They will not wait to learn a man’s true character. Though no wrong has been done them, one look-and they hate. (Translated: Moses Hades) The tragic plays of Euripides no doubt helped to form an unfavourable estimation of women. For example, women in the Thesmophoriazusae are represented as being fond of alcohol (Thesm. 347–8). As a result of this, their husbands lock up the store house in order to prevent their wives from sneaking alcohol into the house. Women are also portrayed as cleverly deceiving their husbands with suspicious children. Euripides’ estimation of women at the time shows that not only did men view women as having a low standard of morality, but women were also harshly and unfavourably judged by men. The views of Athenian men as depicted in the plays of Euripides made men not to trust their wives and to become suspicious of their wives as men search everywhere in the house for hidden lovers. Athenian women would like to be represented as virtuous as Melanippe, Phaedra and Penelope (Thesm. 545–549). It is pertinent to remember that the representation of women on stage is the representation of a male’s interpretation of women, since men played all parts in the play. Is it therefore possible by this construct to make any conclusive judgments that the males represented the women in their ‘real world’? (Taaffe 1993:19). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 1.1 Statement of Problem A question that has not ceased to bother the minds of many people today more so in gender circles, is, “Has the conception and treatment of women today been any different from the past?” The experiences women go through today either at home (domestic) or at the work place or in the societies that women find themselves have resemblances to that of women in ancient Athens. Critics have overlooked flute girls and courtesans who make occasional appearances in the plays and at the end offer sexual gratification to the hero to rejuvenate him. A close look at these female figures will offer new interpretations of each play. Questions occur such as: what roles do these female figures play in the comedy? Are there any evidences in the text available to point to males playing the role of females? Answers to these will help us appreciate the roles and importance of female characters in Aristophanic comedy. The three plays will be interpreted in a way to demonstrate the social and political issues embedded in them. Whilst doing this, I will examine a number of related works on women and trace the origin of and the reason for the negative and positive images of women in ancient Greek literature and their socio–political implications. The plays of Aristophanes were influenced by the general perception that existed in the Athenian society and that affected the portrayal of women in his plays. A number of studies have been done on Aristophanes’ portrayal of women by various scholars. Such include: Suzanne Said, The Assemblywomen: Women, Economy and Politics (1979); Sommerstein Alan H: Lysistrata (1990), Helene .P. Foley: The “Female Intruder” Reconsidered: Women in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae (1982) and Lauren K. Taaffe, Aristophanes and Women (1993). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 1.2 Significance of Study The significance of this research is to extend the knowledge on gender studies and literary criticism. It is hoped that scholars, critics and students find this work useful because it will serve as a new material for further discussion in the field of women in ‘Classical Antiquity’. Scholars will gain an opportunity to look again at how the female gender has been constructed over the years by males and even females themselves. 1.3 Aims and Objectives The fundamental aim of the study is to interpret how Aristophanes uses themes such as sex–strike, women’s adulterous affairs, and effects of women’s religious rituals on the state in relation to addressing issues of war and the economy of the state. Further it will proceed to identify some setbacks or challenges that contributed to women’s socio–political portrayal in the ancient Athenian society. 1.4 Limitations and Delimitations The study is limited to Aristophanes’ three ‘women plays’ and it will offer a close contextual interpretation of the plays as a way of exploring the themes pertaining to women’s behaviour and a critical appreciation of the themes. Excerpts will be drawn from the selected plays to illustrate the extent to which the thematic issues in the work are shaped by the playwright. The plays assume that the women in the plays represent Athenian women. 1.5 Scope of Work This research is a literary exploration of Aristophanes’ three ‘women plays’. The plays are not an arbitrary selection, the reasons being that the plays provide a deep insight into the beginning of Aristophanes’ detail discussion of women’s portrayal. The plays also begin the development of stereotypical portrayal of women that were projected in the plots and themes of his plays as opposed to ‘real women’ in the Athenian society during the fourth University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 and fifth centuries BC. Hence, these three plays will afford all the opportunity to better appreciate and understand the socio–political as well as the cultural position of women in the Athenian society and by extension Greek society. The first two plays: Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae were performed within the same time, which is in 411BC, and even as such they each offer a unique representation of women’s portrayal. In the Lysistrata there is a rebellion of female sex–strike as a plan to curtail the Peloponnesian War, whereas in the Thesmophoriazusae, Athenian women want to put Euripides on trial because he has tarnished women’s behaviour in his plays. After a period of nine years, Aristophanes staged the Ecclesiazusae. In this play there is slight twist of events; women attend the next assembly in order to vote for the government to be handed over to them. 1.6 Research Methodology The study is a qualitative research because it is a library based study and it will use chronological approach to interpret thematic concerns, ideological orientation, and dramatic techniques in order to extrapolate ideas from the playwright that became apparent in his writing. Comedy has been chosen as the literary genre because there is a more graceful interaction between fiction and reality; the costume, mask and language address the audience directly. Aristotle in his Poetics (1449b24–8) says that ‘comedy is the imitation of a serious action’. Comedy therefore, is able to create humour which in turn assists in performing various functions in the society in terms of bonding societal norms in a less rigid manner. The audiences are able to communicate visually with the characters on stage as essential societal values are taught through the performance of the plays. The primary sources particularly provide the socio–political portrayal of women in fifth century Athens. Articles, magazines and books will form part of the secondary datum. In interpreting the portrayal of women in Aristophanic comedy, I will provide evidence from the text supported with arguments from various scholars in the field under consideration. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 1.7 Organization of Work The order of presenting this work is categorized into six chapters. The first is the introduction which will provide a brief summary of how the research will be conducted. Chapter Two will be the literature review. Chapters Three, Four and Five will interpret the three selected plays respectively under sub–titles such as synopsis of the play, social and political portrayal of women. Chapter Six will conclude and summarize the work on Aristophanes’ portrayal of women. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This sub–section reviews scholarly works on the origin and evolution of comedy, life and works of Aristophanes, Aristophanes’ representation of women in ancient Greece, and lastly the theoretical framework used in interpreting the plays. The study of women in ancient Greek literature reveals that the representations and images of women in works of art and history are all composed by men. This construction presented women from a male’s point of view and so the issues of women should be treated with some caution. 2.1 Origin and Evolution of Comedy Comedy as an art form was performed in ancient Greek theatre under the auspices of the government at two official festivals: the City Dionysia (Great Dionysia) and the Lenaea. i These two festivals were in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. Comedy is from the Greek word komos meaning revelling. The first recorded comedy at the City Dionysia was in 486BC and in 442BC performances of comedy began at the Lenaea. The City Dionysia was held during March or April. It was a religious celebration of spring and renewal and had attendants from all over Greece and the Mediterranean. The Lenaea was held in January and February and by contrast it was attended by only local Athenians. The location of the Lenaea is unknown but the City Dionysia was held in the Theatre of Dionysus on the south slope of the Acropolis which could have five consecutive days of dramatic performances, but during the Peloponnesian War it was reduced to three days (McLeish 1980:26–27). In order for a playwright to have his plays performed at any of these festivals he had to present his plays to the city archons: for the City Dionysia archon eponymos and for the Lenaea archon basileus who will grant the playwright a chorus and also bear the cost of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 play. It was the responsibility of the playwright to teach his actors parts in the play and he was often referred to as didaskalos; that is a teacher. A sponsor, the choregos, will be assigned to the playwright. The sponsor was a rich Athenian citizen who increased his reputation and influence by taking responsibility of the play. The choregos selected men of his tribe for the chorus and also hired the chorus–trainer as well as musicians and arranged for the costume. A choregos who became victorious would have a monument erected in his honour and a tripod would be presented to him. The tripod will be adorned with a monument. ii Judges were also appointed for the plays. They were picked by lot out of a large number of citizens selected by a council responsible for the performance of a play. Ten names will be called out and these will take the front seat reserved for them. These men also swear an oath to vote for the best performer. iii All parts in comedy were played by men. Actors wore highly stylized costumes. The costumes were heavily padded because the actors had to disguise themselves. Costumes which had bottom layers of bodysuit were padded at the arms and legs with extra wrinkles at the waist and ankles. The comic masks were exaggerated depending on the nature of the character: Old man, Cook, Courtesan and so on. For the phalluses and the breast costumes of the chorus it has been suggested that they were derived from early ritual associations of fertility cults iv . Female characters wore pads underneath their cloths and these pads were not conspicuous in Old Comedy. The chorus was normally made up of twenty four dancers. At a point in the play the chorus is divided into two (men and women) with each half defending some viewpoint and abusing the other half sometimes physically. v The first audience address sets the stage for the play and the plot of the play proceeds. In the prologue the audience is addressed either directly or indirectly. As in the case of Frogs: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Xanthias: Boss, would you mind it if I started off with a good old gag that always get a laugh? (1) In comedy the parodos marks the entry of the chorus which is often characterized by long songs and dance. The agon consists of various scenes which are interspersed with the chorus. It was a central scene in the play that establishes formal debate on every important issue in the play. It was speech against speech, song against song. The two characters often spoke in tetrameters; a poetic meter with four anapestic meter per line and a rhythm for comic verse. A passage known as the parabasis is often delivered by a single chorus on subject that has little or no value to the play vi . This scene shows the result of the conclusion so far reached in the agon. A second parabasis which contains jibes is directed to an important personality in the audience. Exodus, the concluding scene of the revelry, ends with a short song. For instance in the Frog (1476–1479): Xanthias: It’s so long since the old man drank and heard. The pipe and he’s enjoying it so much. That now he won’t stop dancing. All night long he’s been performing Thespsis’ old dances He says he’ll dance in competition with Modern tragedians and prove them fogeys! Greek comedy had two epochs, Old Comedy with exponents such as Eupolis, Cratinus and Aristophanes, and New Comedy whose main exponent was Menander. vii Middle comedy was a later notion which refers to the plays that were composed between the fall of Athens and the Battle of Chaeronea. Murray (1933) draws a distinction between Old comedy with res publica and New Comedy with res private. viii Aristotle (Poetics 1449b24–8) believes that Crates is more worthy to be considered of a writer of New Comedy because Crates abandoned sheer raillery and composed orderly plots. In his, The Origin of Attic Comedy, Conford observes that the fragments of Crates and Pherecrates are hardly distinguishable from the manner of New Comedy. The styles of Aristophanes could have been characteristic of his contemporaries much earlier. He however University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 had a comedy in the new style Vita– which is now lost. This comedy contains rape, recognition and all those other things Menander loved. Above all, Old Comedy became the medium through which writers at the time used to teach Athenians the civic duties and at the same time entertaining the audience. Theatrical performance helped in shaping a central part of Athens’ ideological personality Henderson (1991). Of all the writers of Old Comedy, it was Aristophanes who lived to write Old Comedy because his treatment of characters were taken from real and succinctly incorporated in his plots. His plays have become part of Western literature studied in various fields of literary criticism. 2.2 Life and Works of Aristophanes The date of Aristophanes’ birth is actually not known. He is however believed to have been born in Cydathenaeus, a deme in Athens in the year c.447BC. He was the son of Philippus. Among the forty plays that he wrote eleven are extant and these have remained a part of Western literature. His first play The Banqueters ix was performed in 427BC. and was ranked second in the contest. He was barely twenty years when he produced the play. Until his death in c.388 BC, Aristophanes remained the leading comic poet of Greece. Moses Hadas wrote concerning Aristophanes: If Aristophanes is without direct progeny, his influence on subsequent satire and farce is very great. But valuable as he may be as a commentary on a uniquely valuable area of human experience or as a begetter of art in others his true claim upon our attention is as the most brilliant and artistic and thoughtful which our world has ever known (Hadas 1962:1) The following year his play The Babylonians, which was performed at the Dionysia in 426 BC, came first in the contest. The play is available in fragments. It endured a persecution by Cleon for anti–Athenian propaganda. Aristophanes’ eleven extant plays include: Acharnians (425BC), Knights (424BC), Clouds (423BC), Wasps (422BC), Peace (421BC), Birds (414 BC), Lysistrata (411BC), Thesmophoriazusae (411BC), Ecclesiazusae (372BC) and Wealth University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 (358BC). Of these plays, Acharnians, Knights and Frogs took first positions and Wasps was defeated because Aristophanes presented another play Preview at the same festival. Peace and Birds took second positions and the original version of Clouds was given third place. Two more comedies were produced by his son Araros after the production of Wealth. Modern readers will easily notice that Aristophanes’ plays were highly topical: we may miss many points, be it comic or serious because we are ignorant of the circumstances of the time. By this we become limited in our understanding and appreciation of the likes and dislikes, the worries and pleasures of Aristophanes and his spectators. But we can discover his intentions in all his plays. The plays of Aristophanes have survived because of their intrinsic values. They offer both readers and critics a rich experience and have remained a favorite in Western literature. His main aim for writing his plays was to entertain his spectators. This assessment is also true of his other rivals whose comedies are now lost: Cratinus, Eupolis, Pherecrates, Phrynichus and others. Literary critics have remarked that underneath the rhetoric of Aristophanes there is always a socio–political indictment of Athenians in his brand of comedies. Richard Hunter’s (2000:271–272) comment on Aristophanes, argued persuasively that Aristophanes jumbled diction and frantic energy as he represent the unrest of fifth–century Athens whiles Menander a straight forward and instructive poet presents comedy in a civilized good order. Scholars in Classical literature have raised questions about whether Aristophanes had any political outlook and the effect of his plays on the Athenian society. Gomme’s Aristophanes and Politics addressed some issues about Aristophanes political views. For him, Aristophanes was not just a comic poet but a dramatist, an artist, a man whose purpose is to give us a picture and not to advocate a policy. Some scholars also believe that his plays exerted socio–political influence. In a response to Gomme, Ste Croix says: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 Aristophanes was a man of very vigorous political views of a conservative ‘Cimonian’ variety (not all untypical among the Athenian upper class), the general complexion of which is easily identifiable and remained consistent over the period of some forty years. Ste Croix (1972:45–46). D.M. MacDowell says of Aristophanes: His unique achievement was to give good advice to the Athenians whiles never ceasing to entertain. MacDowell (1995:356). Scholars in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have often evaluated Aristophanes’ plays based on the socio–political experiences of the time. Whereas some see him as an advisor to the city others also view him as an ineffectual entertainer. But whatever description that has been granted to Aristophanes the fact that his plays had political, social and even cultural undercurrents cannot be overruled. Gilbert Murray in his Aristophanes: A Study, maintained that there are two parallel worlds: ancient and modern. His account illustrates the tendency of Aristophanes to project himself, his aspirations and his world based on the ancient subject which he dealt with. The Peloponnesian War according to Murray can be compared to a world war based on its own merit. It was a struggle between the principles of democracy and military command. Discussions on Aristophanes’ socio–political outlooks affirm his unfailing biases. Throughout his plays he understood that the primary purpose in comedy is to make clear his theme through the careful manipulation of images, jokes and fantasy. This brilliance of Aristophanes as a playwright has never been questioned, though many scholars over the years have criticized and argued about some details in his works. There is no doubt that of all the writers of Old Comedy Aristophanes is ranked as the finest dramatist and comic artist of the fifth century BC. 2.3 Women in Ancient Greece The search for historical information about the role and status of women in ancient Greek society has yielded discussions among many scholars. There however exist quite a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 number of sources that one may want to investigate for more information about ancient Greek women: orators, philosophers, ancient historians, playwrights and poets. Other evidence may come from inscriptions on fine arts and religious archaeology based on material traces of religious rituals such as relics, buildings among others. In Reading Greek (1987:95), the Joint Association of Classical Teachers emphasized that the Athenian society was male dominated and nearly all Greek literature was written by men. This affected how the men assessed the impact and importance of women in the Athenian society. Much of this information about women’s lives emerged almost incidentally from literary sources and the ‘tragic’ stature of the great dramatic heroines. Euripides and Aristophanes enabled us to see the mythical heroine very much in terms of a fifth century Athenian woman in her concern for her husband, children and society. Homer was one of the early writers to have provided information about Greek women. x Influential and very powerful women appear in the Homeric epics. These women include Helen, Clytemnestra and Penelope. Authors from varying backgrounds have different views about Helen in the Iliad: whilst some regard her as surpassing the traditional boundaries of Greek women, others see her as shameful and deceitful. There are still others who approve of her by disassociating her from shame for neglecting her husband for another man. She brought dishonour upon herself when she took a foreign husband and the entire nation had to suffer the effects of the ten year war. In the Odyssey, Penelope is different: no longer a mistress but linked with Artemis (goddess of chastity) who moves from a position of being a woman of passion to a virtuous wife (Suzuki 1989). Helen stands in stark contrast with Penelope. In the Odyssey, Penelope rejects many suitors who came her way, whereas Helen easily succumbs to Paris’ passion. Both Helen and Penelope can be celebrated as Greek women who acted on their own will. Homer wrote at a time when Greeks valued honour and virtue and women were only passive characters in the world of the men. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 The loyalty of a Greek woman was highly praised. Men could however be polygamous and have slave concubines. Women on the other hand generally stayed at home performing various household tasks. Archaeological evidence from some Mycenaean tablets provides evidence that food distribution for men at that time was two and a half times that of women. xi This trend clearly indicates that the position of women was inferior to that of the men. The status and role of women in ancient Athens was more restricted as opposed to their counterparts in other city–states. For instance, women in Sparta were included in education and the political life of the state. There were definite role expectations for both men and women. However, these roles varied among the various class distinctions. xii Greek women had the basic right to marry and bear legitimate children in order for the family lineage to be perpetuated. Daughters inherited the family property if there were no sons. Women were obliged to marry their next of kin to facilitate the chance of maintaining a father’s property and they could also receive eighteen percent of their dowry annually. xiii Few records exist to show that women initiated divorce. Children were considered the property of the husband and stayed with him. Women in the ancient Athenian society were considered not fit to receive any education because it would make them more dangerous to men. xiv Euripides portrayed women as being noble and self–sacrificing heroines. xv Plato also described his ideal society in the Republic xvi where women could receive equal rights as men. Even there, he reiterated that the place of a woman was within the home. xvii Pericles in 430BC said that ‘the best reputation a woman can have is not to be spoken of among men for good or evil.’ xviii Plutarch in the first century AD made references to women poets and prophets. xix He praised women who possessed political wisdom. One of such was Phrygia, who was a government official of her city-state and performed her political duties with ‘excellence.’ xx In his Moralia, Plutarch portrayed women as having a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 measure of political power in terms of state administration and this was a common trend in the Athenian society. Athena Polias, the patron goddess of Athens, was a very influential woman in the political life of the city. xxi During the annual feast of the Panathenaea, young virgin girls carried baskets containing sacrificial offerings. xxii Plutarch also referred to women priests of Dionysia, who took part in political demonstrations and even used the influence of the political authority of Elis. xxiii Women also exercised leadership roles in religion. xxiv The traditional religion of Greek women was restricted in the syncretic mystery cults. In the Eleusian Mysteries of Demeter, a priestess together with her male counterparts was rewarded with small coins as payment for every initiation rite they perform during festivals. There were some other priestesses who were married whereas others stayed in celibate communities. xxv Women who were in the same social class with men did not perform roles equal to that of the men. One reason was that women did not have the freedom to determine their own lives. A Greek proverb expressly depicts this as: for the woman, the part of wisdom is to act through men (Euripides’ Suppliant Women). Some sayings have also been attributed to Thales, Socrates and Plato in which men showed gratitude to the gods that they were not women, slaves or uncivilised. xxvi 2.4 Aristophanes’ Representation of Women Before 411BC Aristophanes produced six plays, which include Acharnians, Knights, Clouds, Wasps, Peace and Birds. The plays, although they do not exclusively focus on women, contain at least one female character each: Daughter of Dikaipolis, Baking Girl, Iris. Aristophanes uses females in these plays to represent important roles that women perform in helping their heroes. Female figures in Aristophanic comedy will reveal new interpretation but at least one can point to three categories of women in the plays. First, women who offer sexual gratification to their heroes (Acharnians, Knights, Wasps, Peace and Birds); secondly, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 little girls appearing in parodies of rituals and tragedy (Acharnians and Peace); and lastly mythological females who help or warn a hero (Clouds, Peace and Birds) Taaffe (1993:23). Sommertein’s Lysistrata asserts that Aristophanes wrote at a time when Athens was going through social and political crises. In Lysistrata for instance, a band of women formulate plans to defeat the political establishment by seizing the funds of the Acropolis which was used to support the warfare. Scholars who investigate issues of women in Classical drama do so with the assumption that women in Greek drama were always exceptions to the rules. In Lysistrata the plot and all the theatrical illusions point to role– playing; that is women playing the roles of men. For Lysistrata’s plan to work, she requires that the young wives support her. Aristophanic plays have been given anthropological equation. Foley (1982:17) pointed out that this equation ‘female is as nature and culture is as male’, is woefully inadequate for one to better understand and appreciate Greek culture in relation to women. Foley sees the oikos (home) and polis (city) as female and male, nature and culture and these two complement each other. Aristophanes uses these women to represent an essential part of the polis. P. Slater (1968) took a psychoanalytic view of comedy. His approach was based on the assumption that these women who were presented on stage were seen to be authoritative, dangerous and very powerful. Greek mothers did not always have a good relationship with their sons; they therefore became authoritative. These mothers often dominated the homes in the absence of their husbands. Clytemnestra and Medea in Euripides’ Electra and Medea respectively and also Deineira in Sophocles’ Women of Trachis epitomize these traits. Many jokes have been made about female sexuality and this has led to an assessment of psychological and social relationships between the two sexes. This psychoanalytic paradigm has not been fully understood and as a result it has created an assumption that a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 male protagonist will always have to desire a female object for his sexual rejuvenation. This was a general observation that existed in the Athenian society and Aristophanes capitalized on it in his representation of women in his plays. In her work on the Thesmophoriazusae Zeitlin explains the relationship between gender and genre and in that she intersects the ideas about comedy, feminine and mimesis. She argues that: The mistress of mimesis, the heart and soul of the theater. The feminine instructs the other through her own example–that is, in her own name and under her own experience–but also through her ability to teach the other to impersonate her (Zeitlin 1985:80). According to her, the feminine is an essential part in discovering and constructing the theatre. On the issue of cross–dressing and role reversal, the festivals of Dionysus offered a suitable platform for Athenian civic life to be taught. Rituals and dramatic conventions of male actors in female roles come to the fore. Female characters in Aristophanes’ plays are not women who have been taken from real life, although they reflect real concerns about men and women, about sex and public life. Ancient actors performed these plays at ritual festivals that helped them in defining the Athenian identity and in general the Greek identity. 2.5 Theoretical Framework In this last section I will explain the theoretical concept that informs my interpretation of the plays. I have chosen the Feminist Literary Criticism as the theoretical framework. This theory is a literary theory that is based on discussions about the representation of women in literary works. As a literary theory, it plays an essential function in distinguishing between traditions and also questions the dominance of privilege positions in the male dominated society. Spencer (1982:158) argues that the theory ‘attempts to set standards for a literature that is as free as possible from biased portraits of individuals because of class. Culture, social, political and economic perspectives should be differentiated on the basis of gender. By so University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 doing the roles of males and females can be fully explained in relation to gender rather than through collective experience. Over the years writers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Mary Elleman, Kate Millett and Sue Ellen-Case have inquired into the history of women’s portrayal in literature and have discussed the stereotyped images of female fictional characters. References can be made to St. Thomas Aquinas’ ‘an imperfect man’ and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, which are about how women achieved social change by withholding sexual favours from men. Women novelists systematically and extensively devote their efforts into the research about women characters in ancient literature by outlining the contribution of women’s role in a play. Ellen-Case (2007:132) asserts that ‘traditional scholarship has focused on evidence related to written texts; the absence of women playwrights became central to early feminist investigation’. Though, there were no female playwrights, critics have found alternative approach in interpreting the roles of women in ancient Greece and that has been made possible by contextually analyzing female characters in plays written by men in fourth and fifth centuries Athens. It is however important to observe that, character traits of women that were brought to bear by male playwrights have been exaggerated. Barry (1995:122) argues that it is important to analyze female characters that were created in male literature because it provides ‘role models which indicated to women and men what constituted acceptable version of feminine and legitimate feminine goals and aspiration’. Thus by making a contextual interpretation of the roles of women within a written text, one can observe that the author does not only make an attribute of personal traits but also the kind of role women and men should occupy in relation to one another. In the light of the foregoing, the Feminist Literary Criticism Theory will be used in interpreting Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae. One can examine the ‘cultural mind set in men and women’ which was prevalent at the time he wrote University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 the plays Barry (1995:122). The history of the theory seeks to address the representation of women’s condition in literature. Its history dates back to the 1970s when authors like Margaret Fuller and George Eliot ventured into gender studies and women’s studies during the first and second waves of feminism. The objective is to understand what constitutes gender inequality, women’s social roles and life experiences in the areas of philosophy, literary criticism, communication and education among other subjects. The theory likewise focuses on women’s right and interest. Other themes such as sexual objectification, patriarchy, oppression and stereotyping are frequently analyzed. It takes into consideration gender in terms of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, which posits that gender, is not biological but psycho–sexual development of the individual. These psychoanalysts also contend that, from an early age, men are taught to see themselves as masculine and women as feminine. Feminist Literary Criticism will be useful in interpreting the socio–political portrayal of women in Aristophanes’ plays because it will elucidate the assumption about women that persist in a male dominated society. Additionally, we see in the representation of women in comic drama that character traits of women and men in these plays were not realistic, well–rounded female characters but imagination of women by men. In male– dominated society women had no political or social role or even little role to play except in traditional religious practices like the Thesmophoria and Skira. Ellen-Case outlines two ways in which women are represented in classical literature (a) positive roles, which depict women as independent, intelligent and even heroic (Lysistrata and Praxagora), (b) a surplus of misogynistic roles (Thesmophoriazusae). Finally, the goal of this theory in the thesis is to provide a critique of social and political elements that existed in the Athenian society and how Aristophanes uses these elements to represent women vis `a vis the traditional roles of women in the society. Themes University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 such as sexual objectification, oppression, patriarchy and stereotyping, gender roles and conflicts will be contextually interpreted. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 END NOTES Chapter Two i For more detailed discussion on these festivals see Pickard Cambridge. The Dramatic Festivals of Athens. ii Pickard Cambridge, pgs. 86, 91 iii See note 1 pgs. 96-7 iv Stone, Laura M.J, 1984 provides full discussion and references v As in Lysistrata, men threatened the women with the torches and women lower the spirit of the men by throwing contents of their water jars on them vi The Parabasis consisted of a: short introductory sing (Kommotion) and a long speech usually in anapaestic tetrameter and ends in continuous speech (choker), then two songs and two speeches, corresponding in length and meter in the order: song, speech, song, speech ode, epirrherna, antode and antepirrherna. vii D. Harvey, pgs78, 80. viii For discussions on the fragments see Casio. Albio C.; Pisa, 1997. xi Homer Iliad and Odyssey (trans). Robert Fagles. Penguin Group, U.S.A. 1991. x Sarah B. Pomerory. Goddess, Whores, Wives and Slaves, New York, 1975, pg. 30. xi Pomerory, op. cit., pg. 60. xii Ibid. pg. 63. xiii Arthur W. Gomme. pgs. 89-115. xiv Menander, Fr. 702. xv For example Alcestis and Polyxena in Euripides and also Antigone, Ismene and Deianira in Sophocles. xvi Plato. Republic V, 453e-457e. xvii Plato. Republic IX, 579b. xviii Pericles. Funeral Oration. xix Plutarch. Bravery of Women, MoraliaIII 257e. xx Plutarch. Bravery of Women, 243a. xxi Diogenes Laeritius. Lives of Eminent Philosophers, A. Oepke TDNT 1,777. xxii Plutarch. Advice138b (Contra Naera, cited in Lefkowitz-Fant, op. cit., pg. 37). xxiii Pomerory. op. cit., pg. 75. xxiv Plutarch. Bravery of Women 251e. xxv Meeks. art.cit pg. 169. xxvi Pomerory. op. cit., pg. 76-77. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 CHAPTER THREE LYSISTRATA 3.0 Introduction War–weary brides refuse sex with their husbands and an army of old women seize the city’s treasury to force a peace treaty (Taaffe 1993:1). The above quotation of Taaffe indicates the plots Aristophanes utilizes in staging the first ‘women plays’. His audience will be quick to recognize the comical effect of sexual undertones that he incorporates into the comedy as a means of lightning the tension that war has caused the society. Thus, Aristophanes wrote the Lysistrata with women as central characters of the play and was produced in 411BC at the City Dionysia. The play has two plots: younger women’s sex–strike and older women’s occupation of the Athenian treasury. There has not been any rational solution to the war against Sparta and peace was not forthcoming. In 413BC the fighting was renewed in mainland Greece and in the Aegean. Aristophanes’ main concern was his sympathy for the women, whose lives the war was ruining. The talk of state policy in connection with sexual theme is quite a serious matter: politics in Athens is a subject on a high level. Aristophanes uses the plots of Lysistrata to advocate a Pan–Hellenic harmony that will save Greece from further destruction. A question remains about how Aristophanes uses social and political issues with emphasis on women’s role and status in the Athenian society to drive home his point. Lysistrata has remained a favourite play among scholars and students alike. The play has now been seen as a statement of feminine solidarity and universal truth about war, peace and of course a battle of the sexes. This play involved a lot of theatrical devices. The representation of women by men on the stage has a double edge. The female mask may be fastened tightly. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 The text may slip to show the male underneath and this will show a mixture of gender and character. Critics like Gruber have asked: Does the fact that Lysistrata was a male in disguise have any bearing on the meaning of the comedy? We have every reason to think so. Humor at the expense of women is integral to the play and was unquestionably relevant for Aristophanes’ patriarchal audience (Gruber 1986:3). In examining dramatic illusions in Greek comedy, Gruber did not fully explain how a male playing the role of a female will influence the total performance of the play, there are however some humour in the representation of women in drama that parallels the social constructs of women in the Athenian society. Gruber addressed the phenomenon of role– playing in theater by arguing that: role–playing as a dramatic technique is essential to understanding the representation of women on stage vis `a vis their role in the Athenian society. The play affirms and lauds the roles that both male and female play in maintaining the polis and the oikos as well. The chapter seeks to address how Aristophanes essentially uses the two plots of the play: younger wives make sex–strike at home to hurt their husbands who are at the battlefield and the older women’s occupation of the Acropolis by taking control of the Athenian treasury as though it were the house–keeping money. Ultimately, as Lysistrata is examined in this chapter, readers will notice how the play offers an excellent piece of social and cultural evidence concerning the roles of women in the Athenian society. All translations of the text will be taken from George Theodoridis. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 3.1 Synopsis of the Play Lysistrata, an Athenian woman calls for a secret meeting with the intention of persuading both the wives of Athenian male citizens and other wives from neighbouring cities to swear an oath that they (wives) will deny sexual intercourse to their husbands or lovers until the men agree to end the war. xxvii Lysistrata: We will go on strike! Myrrhine : Me. I can’t do it, Lysistrata. Not me. Let the war drag on. Calonice : Yea, me, too, Lysistrata. Let the war continue. (125–127) She succeeds with great difficulty in having the women agree to her proposal. When she first calls the women, none of them appears and she expresses her indignation: Lysistrata: Tell me, please all of you: Do you not miss your husband’s? Your son’s fathers? I mean while they are away at war? I know very well that all of you have your husband’s away at the moment. Not one of them is here with you? Isn’t that so? (99–100). The foreign wives depart to their home country and Lysistrata together with the other Athenian women occupy the Acropolis which is the state reserve of money without which the war cannot continue. The play has two choruses, each with twelve members. The first to arrive is the chorus of the men at the Propylaea (entrance to the Acropolis) carrying fire–pots and wood because the men have heard that the women have seized the Acropolis. So they (men) have come to smoke the women out. Before the men could carry out their plans the chorus of old women arrives from the opposite direction with jar of water. After an altercation between the two choruses a further strife is directed to an unknown proboulos (a distinguished citizen appointed in 413 BC after the Sicilian expedition). His duty was to take care of the economy of the state. He was not much enthused about the sex–strike but rather the occupation of the Acropolis. Lysistrata together with other women confronts the proboulos. The proboulos on the other hand orders the police to arrest the women. Lysistrata was left alone to fight the proboulos. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 Both Lysistrata and the proboulos were backed by their respective choruses. She contends that women are more reasonable than men. Her reason being that if women should be given the chance to manage the affairs of the state they will set everything right, like handling a piece of wool to produce fine bobbin. In a situation where we should expect a parabasis there are rather exchanges of incivilities between the two choruses. We see Lysistrata in trouble, her plan is proving too much for her fellow conspirators and they keep inventing excuses to slip away. Kinesias xxviii was the first tormented man to appear. Myrrhine arrives from the Acropolis willing to have sex but as Kinesias comes within seconds of penetration Myrrhine puts him off by running to bring mattress, pillow and scent none of which he requires. After having exhausted all possible delays, Myrrhine runs back to the Acropolis leaving Kinesias in frenzy which she has skillfully aroused (952ff). The women’s conspiracy at Sparta is successful. A Spartan herald with a permanent erection arrives to announce his country’s intention to negotiate for peace. Before his arrival, however, the two choruses become reconciled. Spartan: We are here to participate in the Peace Talks. Polycharides :Good. So are we. Why don’t we call Lysistrata out here, since she’s the only one who can settle our differences. Spartan: Sure! Call anyone! Athenian: Ah! No need to call her at all, it seems she is here. She must have heard us (1102–4) In Lysistrata we see castigation by both sexes for their betrayal of ancient favours that have been conferred by the Athenians and Spartans. As the chorus progresses, the Athenians and Spartans move towards the Acropolis xxix to feast and drink. After their feast a Spartan makes a spectacular solo dance and utters the last words at 1297–1300. It was a utopia of or for peace conceived at a time when Athens was going through desperate crisis she had ever known since the Persian War. Lysistrata was just a play of satire seen to relieve the people of Athens from the crisis because of the Peloponnesian War. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 The representation of Lysistrata in the play brought her close to Trygaeus in the Peace than to Dikaipolis in the Acharnians. She had concerns not for herself alone but for other women in the neighbouring towns. Lysistrata served as an example for the wives to bring their energies together in order to help restore peace and prosperity to all Greek, including slave–prostitutes, slave–concubines and women who made extra–marital sex easily available. 3.2 Social Implications In examining the social implications of the portrayal of women in Lysistrata, issues such as sexual obsession, gender roles, the role of women in Athenian traditional religion and lastly their role in the oikos will form the basis of the discussion. The myths about the Lemnian and Amazonian women will also be incorporated in the discussion to draw out the resemblances that exist between the myths and the play. 3.2.1 Sexual Obsession Lysistrata: In that case, the job is yours, Myrrhine. Now this is what you will do: give him lots of love and submit to his every passion except the bit which only you know about. Myrrhine: All right! Have no fear, Lysistrata. I’ll do everything you’ve said (727–728). Aristophanes creates suspense in the play and not until 124 that Lysistrata reveals the first of her two schemes for calling the secret meeting, the sex–strike. The women began to invent all sorts of excuses to relinquish the plan. Lysistrata however persuades them to stay on course. Lysistrata deals with sex and sexuality in a comic fashion as a means of suggesting how a serious civil war can be brought to a halt. Aristophanes uses comic humour to produce sexual overtones and periodically charges his dialogues with sexual imagery to convey the solution on how to manage a serious social problem. Though the women from the onset refused the idea of the plan, they later accepted it as a means of seducing their husbands to coerce them (husbands) to stop the war (McDowell 1995:231). The regular use of sex University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 shows how prominent sex was in the Athenian society. Aristophanes uses his ingenuity to make sexual undertones and to colour his speeches with sexual metaphors and imagery. Myrrhine kept busy with activities that simply distracted her husband. After making series of attempt to enjoy conjugal bliss with his wife, Kinesias was left in an agony of sexual frustration which was evidently endured by men both in Athens and Sparta. This scheme of sex–strike devised by the women did not have any ground in real life. The men were not affected in anyway by the absence of their wives in their (men) sexual life. Many forms of sexual activities were readily available for the men such as prostitution, pederasty and masturbation. xxx The women on the other hand consoled their lust with muleteers and slaves. Literature in ancient Athens shows a great deal of evidence for the anxiety that men had about female sexual behaviour. There are two assumptions: (a) women have an insatiable sexual desire, (b) men commit adultery to satisfy their sexual escapades (Thesm 491–492). Slaves were readily available as sexual partners for elite Athenian women whiles homosexuality among men was common in the Athenian society (Pomeroy 1975). A man who denied his wife sex need not pay for a prostitute because Athens was a slave–owning society and men could easily reach out for a male youth with whom he could have sex. An important question then arises: what must have informed Aristophanes’ selection of such a theme in the development of the plots in a play whose main focus is to end war? Or could it be that in the Lysistrata Aristophanes was looking at real life from a different standpoint and adopted the experiences of women to suit his plays whiles addressing a serious problem at the time? An Athenian man’s sexual life is very important and seizure of it will mean seizure of other opportunities in the polis. There was not so much importance attached to marriage as the few months in bed with pretty girl. xxxi Sexual relations among married couple were basically for procreation. Brian Arkins, in his Sexuality in Fifth Century Athens emphasized University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 that ‘an Athenian male could be held incompetent at law for being under the influence of a woman.’ He also asserted that Aristophanes incorporated a historical reality in the plot. Athenian men were under obligation to safeguard their public spheres because the intrusion of women into such places implied the usurpation of men’s power and Aristophanes craftily made a comic portrayal of this in the plot. In his Greek Comedy and Ideology Konstan suggests that: The sexual theme is just an attention grabber. The comedy neatly invent spaces and boundaries, the women turn the city into an extended household and seized the actual polis not as ‘intruders’ but as reconcilers and healers (Konstan 1995). Konstan demonstrates the importance of women’s vision and concept of the oikos which surpasses the fractious politics and warfare of the men and how each of them affects the progress of the oikos and polis. The two: that is men and women must bring their corporate energies together for the survival of the state. Comedy presented the fear of adultery and this anxiety engulfed innocent victims, for instance young wives who will loose their husbands because of the war. Thus, Cohen (1991) in comparing Athens to modern a ‘face to face’ society reiterated that, anxiety with strangers was a form of urbanization and because of this assertion the traditional fear of female sexuality becomes unreasonably connected with strangers. Adultery at the time of Aristophanes was high on the ascendance and because women were at home most of time it was assume that women were imagined to be sleeping with every man. Sex was therefore used as comic cliché of romance where a man sees a woman and at once is seized by desire. He made this comment whiles criticizing the traditional fear of female sexuality. To him women became vulnerable victims as a result of their husbands’ promiscuous activities. The men were not affected by the sex–strike because various forms of sexual activities existed in the Athenian. Certainly in a society where women have been stereotyped as sexual objects, adultery was seen as a universal phenomenon. How cleverly adultery was practised, it was University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 much easier among those actually intimate within a household. Sex was used as an agency to solve a problem that seemed challenging. A woman’s domestic activities included taking care of her husband and also to satisfy his sexual desire. The sex–strike can be traced to the ancient story about the Lemnian women. In the story, Aphrodite’s anger was directed towards the Lemnian women who were made to develop an offensive odor in order to repulse their husbands because the men have taken Thracian women as concubines (Burkert 1985:190–6). As revenge the Lemnian women killed all males on the island. However, Hypsipyle refused and rather disguised her father Thoas the king and set him to sail in a larnax. As she later assumed the position of the ruler of the island, she subsequently married her subjects to the Greek sailors and married Jason herself. The parallel between this story and Lysistrata is that, in the myth women coerce their men into a relationship that led to marriage whereas in the Lysistrata there was already a separation but the women want to create peace: Lysistrata: So, then! Would you like me to find some mechanism which we could use to end the war? Myrrhine: if this were truly possible, Lysistrata, darling I’d start the celebration with drinks right now. Even if it meant I’d have to sell this gown to buy the wine. Calonice: Me too! Even if….even if I’m torn in two like a fish on the grill and have half of me thrown away! Lampito: And even I’d climb all the way to the top if Taygetus to be able to see our beloved Peace (107–111). Though there is no ‘killing’ per se in the play, there is a hyperbole in the form of ‘killing’ where the women tease their husbands with sex and later refuse them as in the case of Kinesias and Myrrhine (952ff). It should be remembered that in the ancient Greek society female sexual desire was not approved by men. Wives were condemned if they showed interest in sex (Medea.569) wives were only limited to sex for biological purpose–bearing of children. Xenophone’s (Mem.2.2.4) contends that sexual satisfaction was not the aim of marriage: Athenian men only require their wives to perpetuate the family lineage and if a man wants to satisfy his University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 sexual urge slaves and brothels come in handy! In the Lysistrata, there is a twist in sexual relation. Kinesis who was in desperation persuades Myrrhine for sex; she refused because of the oath that was taken by all citizen wives to abstain from sex. Lysistrata 108–107 gives us the alternatives that women found a sexual outlet in masturbation as they complain about the effect of the war on their sexual lives (Sue 1995:102). 3.2.2 Gender Roles Aristophanes’ interpretation of gender roles likely affected his representation of women in the play. In the view of Stewart (1974), Aristophanes wrote at a time when almost every facet of morality and public life was under public scrutiny. One must however bear in mind that Aristophanes wrote for a male audience. His portrayal of women in the play was that: women were drunks, adulterous and obsessed with sex. The old women were characterized by their exaggerated drunken vulgarity whereas the younger women were reserved for the sexual element of the plot. In the light of the foregoing, we see a clear demonstration that Aristophanes predominantly represents that a young wife’s role is sexual in nature. Though in the play the women enhanced their roles as sexual objects for a noble cause, later these women imposed on themselves a passive role than what was seen to be normal as demonstrated in the seizing of the Acropolis. Aristophanes presents the two sides of a typical Athenian woman at the time: subservient and very influential at home. As a dominant character in the play, Lysistrata deviated from the traditional roles of typical Athenian women by detaching herself from the world of the other women becoming a ‘man–like woman’ who initiates a peace treaty. Her manipulation of her fellow women makes her act as men do when desiring a woman for sexual pleasure. Lysistrata: Hello Lampito! Oh! My darling Spartan! You simply look ravishing! Such a blemishless complexion so clean, so out of doors! And look at that figure the pink of perfection! (76). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 Pomerory (1975) argues that, though in the play men are shown to be subjected to sexual pleasure, men are able to control themselves with other sexual alternatives they have; that is pederasty. On the other hand, Taaffe (1993) argues that males in Lysistrata assume the role of women that is; they are seen as desiring for sex thereby making them to surrender to any policy in order for them to return home. Lysistrata’s own role as a woman is not clearly defined; neither was she defined as a wife, a mother or as belonging to any female group. Her role as an organizer is a traditionally male one, that of calling a meeting. The significance of foreign women should not be over- estimated in Aristophanic comedy. Athenian women are not subjected to any physical scrutiny but foreign women were. As illustrated in the removal of their clothes in order for their physical attributes to be admired as we see in the case of Lampito: Lysistrata: What lovely breast to own! Lampito: Oo Your fingers assess them, with such tender chucks I feel as if I were an altar victim (86). Throughout Lysistrata, Aristophanes acknowledges that with or without gender conflict war was painful for both men and women. Yet even with gender conflicts Aristophanes shows that women can be successful opposition to men. This fact stems from the response to the relaxation of men’s traditional lifestyles during the Peloponnesian War as asserted by Pomeroy (1975). Not only can conflicts be found between different genders but also within the same gender. Lysistrata is biased even against her own kind; she flaunts their vices and lauds those women who join in the sex strike: Lysistrata: if they were thirsting for a Bacchanal, a feast of Pan or Colias or Genetyliss, the tambourines would block the rowdy streets. But now there is not a single woman is here accept–ah, yes this neighbour of mine–Good day Calonice! (1–3). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 This lack of respect coming from a woman against her own kind was easily accepted by the male audience. Lysistrata goes against the norms of females in a male dominant society which led to the creation of conflict within her own gender. She had no regard for her fellow women, describing them as sex–crazed and drunks. Lysistrata was likewise not surprised upon hearing the excuses that women gave in order to excuse themselves from her political ambition. Calonice: Um…umm… I really need to go home, Lysistrata. I need to check my Milesian wool. I think the moths might eat it. Lysistrata: What damned moths? Get back inside! Calonice: I’ll be right back, I swear by the god’s, Lysistrata. Just let me Go and spread my wool on the bed. Myrrhine: Oh! What a stupid fool I’m! I forgot my lovely flax at home. Lysistrata: Here’s another! Out to get her flax! Myrrhine: Oh! But I swear Lysistrata, by the moon even, please. Do let me just go. I’ll be right back! (729–32). Gender conflict in Aristophanic comedy stems from frustration, ignorance, mistrust and fear. This fear comes about because of losing power or authority to an ‘honorary woman’. Aristophanes quickly singles out for ridicule a group that could upset the Athenian man’s peace or his home. 3.2.3 Religious Roles Old Woman: Athenians! Let us begin our good work by giving some useful words to the citizens. For example when I was seven years I was made a temple attendant. Then when I turned ten, I was given the duty of grinding the sacred barley at Artemis’ temple and also one of the bearers in the festival. Later, I carried the sting of sacred dried figs at Athena’s procession. The greatest honor that can be bestowed upon an Athenian girl! (641–643). Through the mouth of the old women Aristophanes uses another social concept: a religious ritual in his play to signify how important the roles of women are in the society and the effects of their religious roles in curtailing the war. Lysistrata herself is a representative of Athenian traditional religion. Girls who became arrephoros (bearer of secret things) between the ages of seven and eleven lived on the Acropolis and discharged many religious duties University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 under the priestess Athena Polias (patron goddess of Athens). The aletris (grinder) were girls who prepared the sacrificial cake for Athena. During the festival of Brauronia held in honor of Artemis, girls between the ages of five and ten called arktoi (servers) wore saffron dresses. Athena Polias was represented by olive–wood statue on the Acropolis. This office was held by members of the aristocratic family of Eteobouladai. During the fifth century a woman named Lysimakhe held it for sixty–four years. Lysimakhe (dissolving battle), Lysistrata (dissolving armies) and a certain Myrrhine also served at the temple of Athena Nike, the goddess of victory (Lewis 1955). These records suggest the identification of Lysistrata and Myrrhine in the play with regards to the two real–life priestess, Dover (1972:152).Women who served at the temple were not seen as living a consecrated life but rather they enjoyed the same lifestyle as other women who lived with their husbands and children. Thus the fact that women in the play had interest in sex does not conflict with their identity that with the priestess. Many features of the play show how these priestesses played domestic roles. For instance, at the beginning of the play, Lysistrata was able to assemble ordinary women to a meeting. She was able to do this because she holds a distinguished position as a woman in Athens. Lysistrata leads the women to the Acropolis, the religious center at time of Aristophanes which was under the protection of Athena Polias. Aristophanes’ real intent for making changes in the names from Lysimakhe to Lysistrata was to draw a correlation in their character portrayal as women who take the lead in religious ritual. Therefore Lysistrata together with her other compatriots represents not just feminine attitude to war but also Athenian religious tradition. Lysistrata speaks not just for the women but for Athens as a whole. There is a close comparison between the character portrayal of Hypsipyle and Lysistrata in the play in discharging their religious duties. Hypsipyle is a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 virgin who was devoted to her father and like Lysistrata throughout the play there was no mention of her as having a lover or husband in 1124–27: Lysistrata: I am a woman and I have a brain. A brain that isn’t too bad having listened to my father’s speeches and the old elders and the Muse herself didn’t do a bad job of educating me either. I’ll tell you all you deserve to hear. These words could be attributed to Athena the patron goddess herself, Athenian women and the goddesses were all father–devoted. There even exists a resemblance in the name Hypsipyle (‘high gate’) and Lysistrata (‘dissolving battle’). The symbolic meaning of the phrases ‘high gate’ and ‘dissolving battle’ clearly describes Lysistrata’s role in the play. Her position at the Propylaea represented a significant religious function that women play in Athenian civic life before the Acropolis assumed a political function. Athenian women hitherto undertook ritual activities on the Acropolis such as the Panathenaic procession and other cultic services. Lysistrata’s position in the plot was in tune with the priestess Athena Polias. Myrrhine was also another priestess of Athena who belonged to the cult of Nike, Lewis (1955:1–13). The story of the Lemnian women can be associated with a yearly ritual that Athenians celebrate to remember the atrocities of the women on the Lemnian Island. Fires on the island are extinguished for nine days and on the ninth day a boat with the name ‘new fire’ arrives on the island from Delos and that signifies a ‘new life.’ In the Lysistrata there is a battle that occurs between the choruses of old men having fire pot and wood and that of old women with water jar to quench the fire; this scene in the play later caused a separation between the sexes as suggested in 615–19. Another social implication that is embedded in the play is the roles of women as married women. Marriage was very important in the Athenian society and because of that girls were given into marriage at an early age. Although a girl might be betrothed when she attained the age of four, she did not marry until she was fifteen years. Marriages were University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 arranged by parents with considerations of property in mind. Aristophanes invites the men to have sympathy for these young wives who marry at that early age. For some of them (girls) because of the war they are at risk of losing their husbands, others will also miss their chance of getting married to their betrothed husband’s, whiles some of their sons will perish in battle. Married women stayed indoors and delegated duties to their servants who work outside the house and others also supervise servants who work within the house. Nevertheless the women’s lives were not confined to these activities alone. They participated in religious festivals and attended dramatic festivals, for instance the Thesmophoria and Skira. Athenian men cherished their wives, so being at the battlefield was a cause of worry for these men. Kinesias was ready to reconcile with his wife in order to bring the war to an end. He had no pleasure in life because he has left his wife at home and everything seemed empty to him. Kinesias’ attempt was towards a political reconciliation. Two semi chorus, a man and a woman, speak on behalf of all of each group in 1035–37: The old saying is true about you: You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. But I’ll still make peace with you and I’ll even make a promise to you as well. I promise never to treat you badly or to accept any bad treatment from you! So let’s get over our voices and sing! This passage was an emotional approach that carried a solemn negotiation for a happy marriage. What followed was political reconciliation and lastly songs about Athens and Sparta recollecting their happy past. The personal and domestic theme harmonizes both men and women which at the end enhanced the quest of peace which formed the central theme of the play. The socio–cultural parallels that exist in the story of the Lemnian women and the play explains Aristophanes’ stereotype perception of women and these helped to shape the structure and style of his later plays on women. Like the ‘Lemnian fire’, Lysistrata acts like a ritual spark of flame that becomes a ‘new life’ for the oikos. Women used fire to cook food, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 and warm the room when the weather is cold. In a pejorative sense the women use the fire to ‘roast’ and ‘turn’ their husbands, thus portraying an image of sex and the rejuvenating of older men in the play, which in effect symbolized the remarriage of husbands and wives. It also brings new life to the polis through the purification of the Acropolis. 3.3 Political Implications Athens’ perilous external situation coincided with a domestic situation at home. The military failures of democratic administration have given way to oligarchs to restrict and eliminate democracy which since the death of Pericles had become more violent and radical. Athenian leaders had also become the driving force behind the continuous war. The thought of establishing a new government of Ten Probouloi (appearing in the first part of Lysistrata) represented the first restriction to democracy. By extension the performance of this play took place at a time when Athens was experiencing severe political crisis. Aristophanes’ treatments of an old theme of war and peace clearly demonstrate that he did not tolerate any party because to him such support will prove dangerous to his career in 1053–1054: And when there is Peace all the borrowers can keep that money! As well, we’ll be inviting some of our allies to our home this evening. These are all good, honest men. They are all our friends! Lysistrata summons other married women from Athens, Sparta, Boeotia and Corinth in order to form a conspiracy to obtain peace by refraining from their conjugal duties and also to seize the Acropolis which was the state treasury and was also seen as a national symbol. The seizure of the Acropolis meant seizure of the state treasury. Lysistrata’s reason for this was that in 174, if Athenians have no money, then the war will end. However, Lampito the delegate from Sparta also asserted that ‘Athenians will not give up as long as abundant silvers are stored up with the goddess’. The Acropolis at the time of Aristophanes was not the center of democracy but rather a religious citadel under the protection of Athena. So the taking of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 the Acropolis would mean that the women will prevent the men from getting direct access to the funds and as a result it will give a direct way to end the war. Further, the Acropolis served as a religious symbol, and also stood for democracy and government in Athens. The chorus of old men climbing up the hill of the Acropolis sings about how Kleomenes seized the Acropolis: Now they’ve gone and seized the Acropolis. Stolen the sacred statue of our protector, Athena and they’ve driven bars and padlocks into her gates. Remember Kleomenes. Even he didn’t escape unpunished. (274) Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata, a century after, but the event was memorable in the minds of all Athenian men. So Kleomenes, like the women of Athens, threatened to overthrow the government and democracy in Athens. The invasion of the Acropolis by the women can be traced to the Amazonian myth. The Amazons are a tribe of women who lived near the coast of the Black Sea and were very aggressive to their male companions. These women were illustrious in the art of hunting and warfare. In order for them to acquire masculine looks, some parts of their bodies were mutilated especially around the chest. This was done to make the chest region more suitable for drawing bow during battles. In the Amazonian myth, there exist a contrast and inversion of gender roles. The myth is repeated in the Lysistrata where the choruses of old men force a separation of women who have taken over the Acropolis. Lysistrata and her fellow women act like their counterpart in the myth who attacks a foreign city of men. Old Men: Don’t let any of you give these women a slight grip on anything, because nothing escapes their greasy hands. And if they set their minds to take on horse riding, then we can forget about our cavalry! Just look at those paintings of Mikon, for example the Amazons! They’re fighting men! So men our duty, is clearly this: It is grab them by their neck and place them firmly in the public pillory! (670– 673). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 Women in the Lysistrata likewise seized the Acropolis which at the time was purely a male domination. The army of women who appeared in 430–433 clearly resembles the warrior women in the myth. Magistrate: I need to go in there now, to get some money to pay the city’s rowers. How am I going to do that if these bloody women have bolted at the gate? But I won’t stand for it! Bring me the crow bars, men. I’ll make these women pay for their insolence! The takeover of the Acropolis by women warriors threatened the stability of the men’s position in the society in 175: Lysistrata: We’ve thought of that, too, Lampito. No problem. Today we’ll take over the Acropolis! While we’re all getting this protest organized, the older women will be going up there under the pretence of conducting rituals and sacrifices and as soon as they get in there, they seize the place! The control of the treasury created another political problem between the sexes. As the proboulos arrives, Lysistrata outspokenly tells him how the women will care for the money in the same way as they do with their domestic income. The central idea of Lysistrata’s statement in having the women control the money is more connected with the internal politics as well as civic harmony which had to do with how to reconcile Athens than the external politics and war. Lysistrata looks back to the time when Athens and Sparta stood together even during times of difficulties and rightly referred to that period as the national unity of Greeks. On the eve of the oligarchic coup d’etat, Aristophanes recommended a civic harmony and true democratic settlement in the state, Newiger (1957). So both personal and domestic harmony between men and women enhance the theme of ending war, which apparently forms the main theme of the play–to attain peace. The exciting tone that characterized the rivalry between the chorus of men and women, the dressing of the proboulos in women clothes and the defeat of the proboulos with pots was apt to end the play. These actions show how University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 Aristophanes uses domestic or cultural settings to draw attention to how Athens can achieve peace. Lysistrata explains to her captive (proboulos) about how Greece should be taken care of and repaired. Aristophanes uses the wool metaphor and described the city as the wool and Athenians as a body of citizens (577–830): You simply wash the city just like you wash wool. First you put the wool into the tub and get the dirt bit all the crap around its bum. Then put it on the bed, take a rod in your hand and scratch and bonk all the burrs and spikes out of it. All those that have gathered themselves into tight knots and balls and are tearing and tangling the wool of the State well, you just tease them out of it. Rip their heads off! Then, off for combing. Put all the wool together into one basket. All of it! Friends, foreign or local allies–anyone who’s good for the State. So, all those colonies joining the ball, you’ll be able to weave a cloak big enough for the whole city. Lysistrata is convinced that if the wool is thoroughly cleansed and all filth is removed then, like the city, all the bad men and corrupted leaders will equally be removed. She uses lump of knots that have become entangled or snarled together to illustrate that no matter how complicated events have turned out, Athens can still be relieved of those problems. Who are these lumps of knots? Aristophanes criticizes politicians in Athens who deliberately have each other elected. These politicians to Aristophanes threaten the foundation of democratic governance. MacDowell suggests that Aristophanes attacks men who want the oligarchic revolution: Pesisandros went to all the conspiratorial groups xxxii which already existed in the city for trials and officers and urged them to draw together and make common plans for subversion of democracy (Thucydides 8.54–4). After the removal of the lumps of knots Lysistrata then suggest that the good people of Athens should now be gathered into the baskets. She outlines the people she wants to be in the basket in 580. The Metics did military service, paid taxes and many of them have lived in Athens for many years. There were also debtors who have been disenfranchised because of their failure to pay their taxes. Their debt was subsequently passed on to their generation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 upon their death. Lastly, cities that have been made colonies of Athens that Lysistrata regards as scattered flocks. Aristophanes meant all Ionian cities. xxxiii Lysistrata further imagines that the gathering of people as new will make Athens a strong city: a fine bobbin of yarn in 585ff. Alternatively, Lysistrata meant to create a state that will embrace all loyalists to Athens. Though, the old women claimed to have the right to advice the men on Athenian policies, not because they (women) contribute to the city but also because they participate in religious ritual. The sentiments which galvanize Lysistrata’s motives bring her close to Trygaeus of Peace more than to Dikaipolis of Acharnians. She was considerate of all women including those of the belligerent cities in general. The time of the play was however different from that of 421 BC After the Sicilian expedition in 413 BC a major part of the Athenian empire was in revolt. The Peloponnesians had taken advantage of the prospect of a decisive victory and had an alliance with the Persians and the Syracusans had also joined them in the Aegean. The political history of Athens justifies that with the passage of time Athenian chances of establishing an impasse and a compromise peace improved and that was the kind of peace that Lysistrata envisioned both at home and with Athens neighbors. Aristophanes’ democratic and patriotic disposition, his concerns as a man and a citizen are nevertheless exceptional, because on the eve of oligarchic coup d’état he stood before the political factions and advocated for a civic harmony. The main theme of the play is not women but peace however; Aristophanes uses character portrayal of women to demonstrate how to achieve peace. Many years after the Acharnians Aristophanes still advocates for peace as the goal which Athenians ought to attain. Aristophanes’ practical proposal for achieving peace was: the women’s sex–strike and their seizure of the Acropolis were just comic fantasies. The negotiations will not be possible in a real life situation. Athens has been weakened by the Sicilian expedition, the hope of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 attaining favourable terms for peace even after the Peace of Nicias was far–fetched. But that will only happen when the Athenians and Spartans have become reconciled, that is to say, when the warring cities have achieved peace, then men will regain their sexual control over their wives and also take economic control over the Acropolis. Readers of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata will be quick to notice that Lysistrata for many reasons seems to be an outspoken character. Though she put faith in the women’s diligence to the duties to help her, she lacks the will power to begin with her plans. Lysistrata had no recognition for other members of her gender, she thinks of them as being interested in a Bacchic revelling and a bunch of sex–crazed women. But anyway, this leads to a question about what Aristophanes’ real intentions was in writing this play. Was he inviting his male audience to view the play as a farce or rather the play had some political undercurrents underneath? The wool metaphor that Aristophanes uses to drive a silent point was quite interesting. It was the first time that Lysistrata was seen dictating to the men as regards what they should do. This passage is clearly from Aristophanes through Lysistrata. Women were not given political powers in Athens and this indicates that Aristophanes was making a sermon proposal to his audience. Though the seizure of the Acropolis was rather an exceptional event and only farcical the women were not included in Lysistrata’s perfect vision of the city. The position of women in the polis is portrayed in a positive way; their contribution as wives and mothers are seen as valuable. The position of motherhood was not glorified though they helped to provide men for the battle. In all one fact remains; women helped change the affairs of the state for a short period and the world at least for a brief time; complex military negotiation for peace was at the time not needed to end the war. It worked in this play for the mere fact that women being involved in politics were utterly an absured idea at least for a time to justify an equally farcical conclusion of the play. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 END NOTES Chapter T